Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama acknowledged
domestic and international resistance to his call for a military
strike against Syria and said he’ll make a more detailed case
for action in an address to the U.S. public next week.

Obama today left a summit of leaders from the Group of 20
nations in St. Petersburg, Russia, without gaining a clear,
unified message of support, even as he said there is “growing
recognition” that the world can’t stand by and let the use of
chemical weapons go unanswered.

“Failing to respond to this breach of this international
norm would send a signal to rogue nations, authoritarian regimes
and terrorist organizations, that they can develop and use
weapons of mass destruction and not pay a consequence,” Obama
said during a news conference at the close of the G-20 summit.

He plans to deliver his speech on the issue on the evening
of Sept. 10 from the White House.

One of the biggest hurdles to Obama’s efforts has been
opposition from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad’s most powerful ally. Putin has
questioned U.S. evidence that the Syrian government was behind a
chemical weapons attack last month and has blocked action
against Syria at the United Nations.

At his own news conference today, Putin said Russia will
continue supporting Syria if the U.S. launches a strike. “We
are already helping them with weapons and we are cooperating in
the economic and humanitarian spheres,” Putin said.

Market Impact

The comments by Putin prompted the biggest swing in the
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since June. The U.S. equity
benchmark ended little changed at 1,655.17 after retreating as
much as 0.9 percent and gaining 0.6 percent. West Texas
Intermediate crude rose $2.16 to $110.53 a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange, a two-year. About 35 percent of the
world’s crude is supplied by producers in the Middle East.

While Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov previously
indicated his country has no intention of engaging militarily in
the conflict, both Russia and the U.S. have beefed up their
naval presence in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea near Syria.

Obama and Putin held an unscheduled meeting earlier today
to discuss their differences on the use of chemical weapons in
Syria as well as the need to move ahead on a political solution
to that country’s civil war, which has left more than 100,000
dead over the past 2 1/2 years.

The two spoke for 20-30 minutes after Putin approached
Obama during a break in the formal morning session of the G-20,
according to an administration official, who asked for anonymity
to discuss the private meeting.

Dinner Topic

Syria also dominated the talk last night at a dinner for
the G-20 leaders and overshadowed a summit agenda on the global
economy and tax policy.

Among the leaders at the G-20 meeting, a majority is
“comfortable” with the U.S. conclusion that Assad’s regime is
responsible for the Aug. 21 attack on civilians in an area near
Damascus using sarin gas, Obama said.

“My goal is to maintain the international norm on banning
chemical weapons,” Obama said. “I’m not itching for military
action.”

The administration released a joint statement with the
U.K., Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea,
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Spain calling for a “strong
international response” to the chemical weapons attack east of
Damascus.

No Specifics

The signatories said they support “efforts undertaken by
the United States and other countries to reinforce the
prohibition on the use of chemical weapons,” without being
specific, said the administration official, who briefed
reporters aboard Air Force One.

U.S. allies Germany, Mexico and the European Union didn’t
join in the statement.

So far, only France has indicated willingness to go along
with an armed response. French President Francois Hollande said
his nation’s military would only hit targets in Syria in a U.S.-
led coalition.

“A military strike would accelerate a political solution,
that’s what people have to understand,” Hollande said at a news
conference at the G-20 site. If Obama fails to get authorization
for a military attack from the U.S. Congress, Hollande said he’s
willing to ship weapons to Syrian rebels.

Ariel Cohen, senior fellow for Russian and Eurasian studies
at the Heritage Foundation, a policy institute in Washington,
said Obama left the G-20 without the expression of broad backing
he sought and without softening Putin’s stance.

Support ‘Lacking’

“While some countries may still come to America’s side, we
are lacking the broad international support necessary for this
action’s legitimacy,” Cohen said. UN support is off the table
because of Russia’s “implacable” opposition, while Obama also
has a difficult sell in Congress, he said. “Popular support is
lacking as the nation is battle weary.”

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry left today for a meeting
with European Union foreign ministers in Vilnius, Lithuania and
talks with representatives of the Arab League in Paris. He also
made calls to members to members Congress, as did Vice President
Joe Biden.

A leader of Syrian rebel forces expressed his skepticism
that Obama will gain approval for military action.

“So far we are waiting for the Congress voting, like the
rest of the world, but indications so far say Congress probably
won’t approve the strike,” General Salim Idriss, head of the
supreme military command of the opposition’s Free Syrian Army,
told al-Arabiya television in an interview.

Strike Needed

“We in the Syrian revolution hope that the Congress”
accedes to Obama’s request, “as we need this military strike so
we can get rid of Assad’s regime,” Idriss said.

Obama was returning tonight to Washington where he’ll
continue pressing Congress to authorize a Syria attack. In his
comments in St. Petersburg, he again stressed that any action
would be “limited both in time and in scope.”

Obama three times declined to directly answer questions
about whether he would take military action even if Congress
turns down authorization.

“I put this before Congress for a reason,” Obama said,
adding that the U.S. position is strengthened if the nation is
unified. “I’m not going to engage in parlor games” by
speculating, while he is still negotiating with lawmakers, about
whether his request is going to pass.

Public Opposition

The president said he’s aware of polls showing most of the
U.S. public opposes an armed response to Syria and that he might
not change many minds with his speech.

“It’s conceivable that at the end of the day, I don’t
persuade a majority of the American people that it’s the right
thing to do,” he said. It’s the job of lawmakers then to “make
some decisions about what you believe is right for America.”

“I would not support the president going forward
unilaterally at this time,” Connolly said on Bloomberg
Television.

Obama, who was elected in 2008 promising to end the Iraq
and Afghanistan wars, finds himself trying to sell a new
military engagement with unpredictable consequences at a time
when the U.S. public is war-weary.

Lawmaker Questions

U.S. lawmakers are asking questions about the size and cost
of the military operation that Obama proposes. The reluctance of
lawmakers and American allies is stretching the timeline for any
military strike.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, filed
a use-of-force resolution today. The full Senate may act by the
end of next week. That would be followed by a vote in the House,
where it isn’t clear whether leaders can overcome opposition
from anti-Obama Republicans, antiwar Democrats and members of
both parties who have expressed concerns about the U.S. being
drawn into another Mideast war.

The delay created by seeking congressional authorization
has set up a cat-and-mouse game in Syria, giving Assad time to
disperse and hide troops and equipment as the Pentagon steps up
surveillance to find targets for Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Refining Targets

“Time works both ways,” Army General Martin Dempsey,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Sept. 3 Senate
Foreign Relations Committee hearing. “We have some pretty
significant intelligence capabilities and we continue to refine
our targets.”

Obama has ordered the Pentagon to put together an expanded
list of possible targets in Syria in response to possible
movements of troops by Assad’s regime, the New York Times
reported.

The U.S. State Department warned Americans to avoid travel
to Lebanon and began removing non-emergency personnel family
members from the embassy in Beirut and an alert for those in
Turkey. The embassy, on its website, cited unspecified threats
to the U.S. mission and American personnel.

Separately, U.S. citizens living in or traveling to Turkey
were warned that the consulate in Adana is removing non-emergency staff and family members because of threats to U.S.
facilities.

“U.S. citizens traveling to or residing in Turkey should
be alert to the potential for violence,” the State Department
advisory said.